Daily Loaf

In 2009, a little movie called Paranormal Activity came from out of nowhere to soundly thrash established horror franchise Saw VI in a head-to-head battle for box-office supremacy. Paranormal Activity went on to become the Hollywood success story of last year, while Saw VI simply disappeared into oblivion. With this in mind, note that it was announced yesterday that Saw VI director Kevin Greutert has been tapped to helm a sequel to Paranormal Activity. That’s not all: PA 2 is staking out Oct. 22, 2010 as a release date — the same release date as the upcoming Saw VII. I don’t know if this counts as ironic (I leave that up to the dictionary and Alanis Morissette), but clearly, this news is more intriguing than rain on your wedding day. (Yes, I know that’s not really ironic. Please, Sarah, don’t kill me.)

Paranormal Activity’s original director, Oren Peli will be kept on as a consultant. There is no word on whether it will be another shaky camera deal, or even what the plot will be; let’s just hope it’s nothing like the disastrous Blair Witch 2.

What do you think? Will you go see a Paranormal Activity 2 even though it has Saw VI’s director? Sound off in comments.

At some point in your life, in one way or another, you’ve come across a comic book.

You read them when you were younger; you made fun of someone for reading them when you were younger. (Or last week.) You saw Spider-Man 3 on its opening weekend; someone gave you their copy of Spider-Man 3 for your birthday.

You decided to pass on playing Wolverine in the first X-Men movie; you’re a household name because you played Wolverine in the first X-Men movie, the second, the third and eventually your own spin-off. (Or maybe that’s only if you’re Dougray Scott – hope Mission Impossible II was worth it. Hugh Jackman thought so.)

You watched Batman with bated breath; you watched Batman and Robin with a weak gag reflex.

Maybe you dated someone who read them, bought one as a gag gift, passed that guy with the unfortunate haircut looking at them at Borders, or just liked Batman: The Animated Series.

Or you just can’t log on to read your Daily Loaf without some guy tricking you into reading about them with pictures of Ryan Reynolds’ abs or Jennifer Aniston.

Whatever the case, comics are a part of your life — and it’s time for you to come to terms with the Top 10 reasons you should read comic books:

10. EVERYONE SHOULD
KNOW HEROES IS A RIP-OFF

It’s been said that there are no more original ideas. That everything’s been done. Now, I’m certainly not suggesting that Marvel Comics — or DC — invented the idea of the superhero. The ideology surrounding them existed before Joan Rivers was in diapers. But in terms of modern pop culture, well, Marvel and DC practically did invent the superhero. They certainly made them relevant.

If you’re going to do something that’s been done, do it better. Google Days of Future Past or watch an X-Men movie: Hugh Jackman and Hayden Panettiere, Wolverine and Claire, respectively, share more in common than an eight-head.

I’m not saying Heroes is a bad show. It isn’t. I’ve seen it, though like much of America, I’m not watching it now.  Humans discovering they have superhuman abilities, dealing with a government that hates and fears them, all while trying to save the world — it’s a great concept. Potential cures, racing through time and dealing with horrible futures — it’s compelling. When it’s called X-Men.

On a side note, NBC: The Incredibles did the same thing… but it was incredible. And Disney bought Marvel, so watch out.  Read the rest of this entry »

It’s October, and do you know what that means? OK, yes, it is the season of post-season baseball, but I was talking about Halloween. More specifically, I’m talking about a steady diet of scary movies regularly consumed by cinema fans in honor of our annual festival of the dead. After watching more than my fair share of fright flicks over the past few days, I’ve put together a list of my picks for the five scariest movies ever. Be sure to include your top 5 in the comments section, and let me know what you think of my selections. And please, if you see me out in public, keep the whole ‘Kevin screams like a girl’ thing to yourself!

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The scariest movie of the year, Paranormal Activity will continue to expand to more theaters this weekend after stellar reviews — especially from yours truly (check it out here) — a successful “demand it” viral marketing campaign, and grosses of $535,000 last weekend in just 33 theaters convinced the studio that they have a winner on their hands.

Paranormal Activity has already been bumped to over 40 theaters, with more to come this weekend. Additional screenings have been scheduled at Tampa’s AMC Veterans theater to go with the midnight showings already set.

The film has been a huge success largely due to the “Demand it” marketing campaign which asked fans to beg theaters to book the film, compounded by word of mouth through Twitter with TweetYourScream. The film was shot for roughly $15,000, but don’t let the price tag fool you. If you’re looking for a great scary movie, I encourage you to check Paranormal Activity out … if you’ve got the guts.

When I was 6 years old, I saw Jaws for the first time and was truly terrified that my trip to the beach the next day would be my last. Despite my love of the water, I still feel the terror that movie caused. Now, 20-something years later, I have experience true terror yet again. This time, though, the scare isn’t in the water; it’s in the bedroom. The movie: Paranormal Activity.

I saw reports that claimed Paranormal Activity was the scariest movie some people had ever seen, so I sought out the flick and “demanded it” on the the film’s website. Sure enough, the movie came to Tampa (your welcome), but only for a midnight showing. After seeing the movie that only cost a small amount to make, I was truly terrified and amazed at something as simple as a shadow or a random light turning on could be so scary.

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